


yellow

by bob_eclipsa_smith



Series: a song of sun and moon au [3]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Blue Verse, Gen, in which I try my hand at fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23862802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bob_eclipsa_smith/pseuds/bob_eclipsa_smith
Summary: Some missing moments from blue :)
Relationships: Cassandra & Varian (Disney: Tangled), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Series: a song of sun and moon au [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1375549
Comments: 9
Kudos: 36





	yellow

**Author's Note:**

> It's come to my attention that blue is kinda angsty. No problem for me, I love pain :), but I know a lot of the Tangled fandom loooove fluff so I wanted to try my hand at that. Trust me, I'm really bad at it. Writing emotion is kinda difficult for me haha but I'm feeling a little like a black sheep in the Tangled fandom so I'll try. And as for the next chapter of blue, I've been really busy with schoolwork - don't become a chemistry major if you value your sanity - but I plan on getting it out there sometime this week. Enjoy!
> 
> Oh and this one shot takes place a little before the head games chapters :)

Varian’s never been a huge fan of birthdays.

His dad tried to throw him a party once, for his thirteenth birthday, but no one came. Everyone in Old Corona had long since heard of the crazy alchemist kid who preferred to hide out in his cave and make deadly inventions to playing chase and toy swords with the other kids.

Varian was stuck eating his cake alone with his dad and even that didn’t last long. Quirin had been called to action to settle a dispute between two farmers. He’d been reluctant to go, sure but he’d gone anyways. The welfare of Old Corona took priority as it always did. Varian had to eat his cake alone. Back then he didn’t even have Ruddiger.

He had to spend his last birthday in his cell. Stan and Pete had taken pity on him, sliding him a slice of cake from the kitchen to celebrate, but they couldn’t stay and share the occasion. What was supposed to be Varian’s sixteenth birthday - an important milestone - was again, spent alone. No dad, no friends. Just him and Ruddiger. And Ruddiger had eaten the cake.

Varian’s starting to think he’s cursed. Even the years between his thirteenth and sixteenth birthdays hadn’t been all that great. As the years went by, his dad became more and more distant, taking a greater role in the Corona community. He was hardly at the house, so Varian didn’t have any more parties.

And now? Geez, this one has to take the cake for the worst. No pun intended.

Varian’s stuck in the old caravan with a silent Cassandra. He doesn’t know what day it is, barely even knows what month it is, but he knows it has to be getting close to his seventeenth birthday. Of course. Sheer bad luck. Cursed. His birthday and him are both cursed.

He glances over at Cassandra, surprised to see her up. She’s not sleeping; instead her eyes are wide open and she’s currently toying with her cuffs, trying fruitlessly to get them off.

He rolls his eyes. “You know there’s no use, right?”

Cass glares at him. And she keeps at it. Varian sighs.

“You could talk to me, you know.”

She sends him a look again.

“Not like there’s anything else we can do while we’re  _ stuck here. _ ”

Cassandra goes back to struggling with her handcuffs. Varian makes a face, blowing out through closed lips. The noise of the cuffs is starting to annoy him, the persistent jangling sound making him want to scream. 

He glares at her. “Will you  _ stop that?” _

Cass raises an eyebrow at him, apparently amused by his anger.

“At least  _ try  _ to make some conversation,” says Varian. “Come ooooooon. I’m so bored.”

The eyebrow raises even higher if at all possible. The other one threatens to join its brother on Cassandra’s forehead. Varian bangs his head on the wood panel.

“Bored. I’m so boooooored.”

Cassandra rolls her eyes.

“Come on, Cass, talk to me. Yell at me. Tell me how annoying I am. I dare you.”

Another eye roll, this time accompanied by an exasperated look.

“Cass.”

A sigh. Cass rests her head on the wood panel behind her and regards him wearily.

“Caaaaaaass,” says Varian. “I’m not gonna stop talking until you start. There’s so much to talk about too. Aldol condensation reactions, Fischer esterification process, conjugated dienes, the many many reactions of carbonyl compounds. Hey! You want me to teach you about reductive amination? Not animation, that’s a different thing. See when you take a carbonyl compound and protonate-”

Cassandra starts to bang her head on the wood panel. Repeatedly. Varian grins, starting to list reactions off the top of his head.

“Oh ho ho, we’re just getting  _ started!  _ What other reactions could I teach you about? Diels-Alder? Conjugate addition? Creating enolate ions?”

Cassandra gives him the worst death glare he’s ever seen. If she hadn’t been tied down, he’d have feared for his life. But if there’s one thing Varian’s good at, it's being annoying. And he is  _ going  _ to get Cassandra to talk. Even if it takes all day.

“Cassie. I forgot how much you hate that nickname. I like it though. Sounds pretty. Cassie. Cassie, Cassie, Cassie. Heh. You know, this is kinda fun. I’m just gonna keep saying ‘Cassie’ until you talk to me, Cassie. Cassie, Cassie, Cassie, Cassie-”

“Oh my god, would you  _ please  _ shut the fuck up?!”

“Haha! Gotcha!” Varian winks at her. “Knew that would get you. Either that or the most boring reactions I know.”

“Don’t you dare start that nerd talk again, I swear to god.”

“You know, maybe this isn’t the worst birthday I’ve ever had,” Varian muses to himself. “I get to annoy you, right?”

Cass blinks. “Wait, it’s your birthday?”

“Well I don’t know the  _ exact  _ date, but we’re coming up on it I know that.”

Cassandra throws her hands in the air, making the chains jangle again. “You coulda started with that, you know!” she exclaims. “Better that than reciting stupid reactions from your head or… or saying that horrible nickname over and over again!”

“Sure but where’s the fun in that?”

Cass groans. “You’re so annoying.”

“I know!” 

Cassandra probably enjoys the silence that lapses between them again, but Varian’s been quiet for far too long. He starts swinging his feet back and forth.

“So what do you wanna do now?” he asks, feeling the caravan move underneath them. “Play charades? I Spy? Ooh! How about-”

“How about we play ‘Who can be quiet the longest’?” Cassandra quips. “I’m great at that game.”

“Eh I’m not,” says Varian.

“Shocking,” Cass deadpans. “I never would have guessed.”

Varian slumps back, saddened from talking about his birthday. He feels Cassandra’s eyes on him, sad and guilty.

“Look, kid, I’m sorry. I don’t really think before I talk so if I hurt your feelings, I apologize.”

“No it’s not that,” says Varian. “Just… birthday stuff, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

He sighs. “I haven’t had a real birthday in a long time, Cass. Trust me, prison birthdays aren’t all that great. And even when… when my dad was around,” he hesitates, holding back the tears. “He was never really around. All I had was Ruddiger and now he’s not even here…”

“Aw, kid no. Don’t cry,” says Cassandra. “Fuck, I hate it when people cry. And it’s not all bad! You… have me don’t you? Sorry I’m not exactly the best person to have.”

Varian snorts. “Are you kidding? There’s no one else I’d want here.” A flicker of a smile crosses Cassandra’s face. “You’re the only thing I have left since my dad-” he breaks off into silence, not even wanting to speak of it. Cassandra nods, understanding and they sit for what seems like a long time, reminiscing on what they lost.

Surprisingly, it’s Cassandra who speaks up next. “If Rapunzel were here, she’d probably be singing.”

Varian snorts again, this time derisively. “I don’t want Rapunzel here,” he says, crossing his arms. “I’d rather have you.”

Cass blinks in surprise, and then she smiles. The softest smile Varian’s ever seen from her and she’s giving it to him. It makes him wonder how many people would put her in front of the princess. Or more importantly, how many people would outright admit that they put her in front of Rapunzel. Varian understands her fear, and her happiness at having him admit it.

Rapunzel is everything people like: positive, cheerful, someone who brightens up the room just by being there. But Rapunzel hasn’t been there for him these past few months. Rapunzel hasn’t kept him alive and she’s certainly not the one who puts up with his stupid jokes and scientific babble. Cassandra has.

That’s why, if Varian has to choose between Rapunzel and Cassandra, he’d choose Cassandra without a second thought.

And the uncharacteristically soft smile she gave him, well that’s the best gift he’s gotten in a long time.

“Thanks, kid.”

“Only telling the truth.”

Cass hums thoughtfully. For once, the air around her isn’t tinged with hostility. She cracks her knuckles. “Well I get it if you don’t want to know the exact date. Birthdays do suck, so I’ll give you an approximation. It’s early June.”

Varian looks at her. “How do you know that?”

Cass shrugs. “Heard Andrew talking about it with one of his goons,” she says.

Varian hesitates before asking his next question, looking down at his hands.  _ “Do  _ you know the date?” he asks, not looking at her.

“Yep,” says Cassandra, and in a smaller voice, she asks, “You want me to tell you?”

He bites his lip, feeling as small as he was when he was still thirteen, and nods.

“June ninth.”

Varian smiles bitterly. Of course it was. 

“Today’s my birthday,” he says, and looks at Cassandra. “I’m seventeen.”

Cassandra blinks, then she smiles again. The moondrop leans against the wall, contemplating him. “Well…” she says. “Not exactly the best birthday ever, huh?”

Varian tilts his head. “I’ve had worse.”

“How the hell have you had worse birthdays than this?” Cassandra asks.

Varian shrugs. He tells her about his thirteenth birthday, spent alone. And then he tells her about his sixteenth, spent in the prison just outside Corona.

Cass raises an eyebrow. “Touché,” she says.

“At least I don’t have to spend my birthday alone this year.”

Cassandra hums. “Well I’d give you some cake but I’m kinda tied up at the moment.”

Varian snorts. “All good,” he says. “Besides, I don’t even like cake that much. Now if you had some hot cocoa, I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”

Cassandra makes a face. Silence reigns for a few comfortable, contemplative moments before she looks at him again out of the corner of her eye. “Happy birthday Varian,” she says softly.

He stares at her in surprise, mouth parting, but just as he’s about to reply, Cassandra lays back down, closes her eyes and goes quickly to sleep. 

This time, unlike the others, it doesn’t bother Varian. He knows this is Cass’s way of isolating herself, keeping her feelings locked inside herself, and he’s more sorry for her than anything else. Growing up like she had, of course she has intimacy issues. He just hopes he’ll be able to help her to overcome them.

And as for this birthday, he couldn’t ask for anything more than someone to keep him company. He smiles.

“Thanks Cass.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know, Varian's fandom birthday is March... what, 24th? But that would make him an Aries and I just really don't see him as an Aries. In fact! I've typed all the Tangled characters because I'm an astrology nerd! Varian, for example, is a Gemini. If you want to know what I see the others as. don't hesitate to ask! And yes, all those reactions Varian listed are real chemical reactions. Boring chemical reactions. Peace out, nerds.


End file.
